Electronic payment transactions occur daily and have become ubiquitous in everyday life. The transactions and related execution costs, however, are becoming more burdensome for businesses and are adversely affecting the bottom line of businesses. This problem is especially acute for small businesses that rely on relatively thin profit margins.
Credit card companies have gained a foothold as the most widely accepted non-cash form of payment for transactions, and many consumers exclusively transact only with merchants that accept credit cards. Thus, many businesses are compelled to use the services of credit card companies despite the costly overhead associated with credit card transactions. Merchants have the additional burden of handling the secure information of a credit card, which exposes the business to legal liability. Despite the high cost of credit card transactions, the technology employed for credit cards is able to provide limited security at the time of sale and limited reporting information for a purchase. Thus, there is a need in the payment transaction field to create a new and useful method and system for transferring an electronic payment. This invention provides such a new and useful method and system.